I used a 100% cotton twine with canola oil and with the wire plus also a bottle of olive oil. I can't seem to keep the flame burning, it burns the cord up? I have even soaked the cord in salt water, still no luck. what am I doing wrong?

I am not sure what you mean by "plus also a bottle of olive oil." Do you mean that you are using canola oil or olive oil as fuel? Both should work fine.If the wick is being consumed, it usually means that the oil is not being drawn up the wick fast enough to feed the flame. Sometimes this is because the wick is too tall. That is, the distance from the top of the oil to the top of the wick is too far for the oil to be pulled up.I have also had trouble when the wire coil is too tight. By compressing the wick, there is not enough space to form channels for the oil to flow through.This is a deceptively simple project to make. It can work right off, or it may require a lot of experimentation to get the hang of it. Lately, I am finding that the oil that I have on hand forms a strange accumulation of soot that caps the wick, stopping the flow of oil and extinguishing the flame. It may be that I need to switch brands. So you may also need to do some experimentation in order to make this work out.

Hi: I tried using a 7mm cotton wick in mason jars filled with scented oil. I cannot seem to get the wick to stay lit. I have submersed the wick in the oil, I have let it sit in the oil to absorb on its own and still, it simply burns out. What am I doing wrong. I am desperate as I am trying to make these for gifts and the clock is ticking. Thank you so much for your help.

I have had problems keeping any kind of candle lit inside a jar or other tall container. There is often a strange 'pulsing' of the flame that precedes the flame's extinguishing, and I have decided that the problems stem from a lack of fresh air entering the container. The candle flame will exhaust the oxygen inside the container, and convection should let fresh air exchange with the spent air to support the flame, but some container geometries may prevent this from going smoothly. Instead, at some point, the flame will be reduced briefly, and the convection plume may escape the jar, to be displaced with fresh air. The new oxygen allows the flame to grow briefly, followed by reduction as the oxygen is used up. After a few such cycles, the flame will go out.\

You may be able to experiment with lifting your candle to a higher level inside the jar with a wire carrier of some kind. There is probably some maximum depth at which the candle will burn steadily, and beneath which the candle will smother itself. Good luck.

Thank you so much for this 'ible. Soon after I moved into my house the lights went off and I had no idea where candles were. I tried making something like this and it failed miserably, but it did keep me busy for about an hour until the lights came back on. Now in the future I know what to do in just such an emergency. Again, thank you.

if you go to a craft shop, antique shop, places like that, you can find all sorts of "lamps" that would work for this....you would also find other things, other "containers" that you could use to make Lamps from...

To make the candle took less time than to take the pictures. It really takes about 10 minutes to construct. It will burn for several hours, if you trim the wick to give a small flame. You can replenish the oil while it is burning, which I find very convenient, so it will burn almost indefinitely. Eventually, the end of the wick becomes fouled with soot, and does not draw oil properly, and so needs to be trimmed and repositioned. If you use a couple inches of string, you can simply draw a bit more of the wick through the copper coil, and cut it to the correct height with scissors for a fresh end.

I am very happy that this instructable continues to draw comment and attention.

It looks like you used a tea candle base to put the oil in...is that right?

For a different type of base, and one that is already flat & level, what about a copper end cap for plumbing pipe?? At most, we're talking $1.50 a piece....but I think that they are under $1 unless you get a 2 inch/cm cap, then they're a wee bit more but still cheap cost.

Usually, I can get away with just threading it through. If there is a problem, you can wrap the coil around something thicker than a matchstick, making a wider opening, or you can rub the wick through some wax to make it stiff enough to thread through more easily.

That green is cupric oxide and is harmless. When cupric oxide burns it does make a pretty blue/green flame, so if you get the green oil to soak into the wick and reverse said wick there could be an interesting effect...

My parents bought a store-made version of one of these. It has a thicker gauge copper wire, and the instructions that came with it state to use olive oil. Had i realized it was this easy, I would have made one long ago! Great 'Ible!

I made this candle because our local health food store sells an oil candle made of a copper plumbing end-cap with a piece of copper tubing inside it. I couldn't see myself paying for this, so I experimented with different ways to support a cotton wick in oil. I like the way the copper wire coil looks, compared to the short piece of tubing, even though it is more fragile. In addition, it can be put into different kinds of containers.

I love this... especially when it's done in that metal candlestick holder. I'm going to keep my eyes open for one.. or two,or three.. when I'm at second hand shops. If you are still reading the comments from this: THANK YOU! Today I printed out a list of things to put in an emergency preparedness kit. This is perfect!

Just made a big version of this from a travel sweets tin, it works great! It's running on rapeseed oil, but for some reason it's kicking up a black, sooty smoke, any idea why? could it be the oil? Great Instructible!